On Thursday, employees of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs’ support programs held a protest march and rally outside the Presidential Palace, who presented a resolution to Deputy Government Spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou, asking him to convey their request for a meeting with the President of the Republic.
It should be noted that workers have been on an indefinite strike, demanding some form of income during the summer months and a resolution to the issue of their colleagues on fixed-term contracts who are currently unemployed.
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During yesterday’s protest, they emphasized once again that it is unacceptable to go unpaid for five months and criticized the government for not telling the truth when it claims thattemporary workers are not entitled to unemployment benefits and that this issue was part of the negotiations and the unions were aware of it.
Speaking on the issue during the “Alpha Kalimera” program, Support Programs Educator Chrysovalanto Argyrou, said that their strike is continuing and they are waiting for the President of the Republic to be informed and for a meeting with their unions to be scheduled.
“We are teachers; there may be very few who are not teachers, but you cannot underestimate the teachers who are on both the list of appointed teachers and the list of those eligible for appointment— you give them detailed syllabi and textbooks; they assign grades, administer exams, and oversee external exams—you recognize their work.”
Argyrou said that civil servants also attend these support programs to learn English, French, etc., and they use the certificate they receive for promotions. How is it possible, she wondered, to belittle them, to demean them, and to call them “instructors”? “What exactly are we teaching? Are our students animals—what are they? We’re talking about adults as well as elementary and middle school students,” she added.
Regarding the government’s position that they themselves knew they were not entitled to unemployment benefits, Ms. Argyrou made it clear that they knew nothing of the sort.
“You’re on a permanent contract; that means you’re supposed to be paid for 12 months. Since I don’t work during the summer months, I need to have some income,” she explained.
“Last year we received unemployment benefits; this year they told us we aren’t eligible because we became permanent employees. Personally, I haven’t seen any legislation stating that we aren’t entitled to unemployment benefits.”
Moreover, as Ms. Argyrou noted, if they had known this, they might not have signed the employment contract.
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